The process of baling agricultural crops starts when the crop is cut or mowed and laid onto the ground in an arrangement to aid drying. After reaching an initial dried condition, the process typically includes a raking step where the crop is formed into a windrow to enhance the final drying process. Since the capacity of balers is affected by the form and size of the final windrow, the raking process is also used to arrange the crop into a windrow that is optimized for baling.
The raking process often involves collecting the crop material over a wide swath to increase the density of the crop in the final windrow of an adjustable width. It is common to use twin rakes, including left and right side rakes that move material toward the center, thereby efficiently forming the desirable final windrow.
The frame that carries the side rakes of a wide twin rake must provide adequate flotation to allow the raking elements to follow variations in the terrain and to move between a folded transport configuration and an extended operating configuration. It is also desirable, but not indispensable, to provide varying windrow widths.
Most folding rakes on the market today that fold by changing the tongue length, do so by using folding arms or telescoping frame members. This causes the working or operational length to be longer, making it more difficult for the operator to turn the tractor and rake at the end of each windrow.
Therefore, there is a need for an improvement to a folding tool bar for agricultural machines, such as rakes, to overcome the aforementioned deficiencies.